• OPINION

  Context is decisive in Thai high politics

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/02/2020

  » In Thailand's high politics where governments survive or succumb, context is everything. After two decades of a political merry-go-round, marked by a series of elections, street protests, military coups, and judicial interventions only to end up with a problematic post-election rule under military domination, no deep expertise is needed to understand what has been happening in this land.

• OPINION

  Thailand's inevitable political endgame

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 22/11/2019

  » While the conviction this week of Future Forward Party (FFP) leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit seemed to be in the making ever since the Election Commission took up the charge last May, it was still astonishing when it transpired. In an all too familiar scene, the Constitutional Court ruled that a leader of yet another leading political party which has stood against military coups and the generals' role in politics is guilty of violating an election-related law, this one banning MP candidates from owning shares in a media company. As the verdict strips Mr Thanathorn of his MP status, several implications seem clear.

• OPINION

  An ex-cop who has no fear of the generals

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 14/12/2018

  » Over the past four and a half years of military government, the Thai people have been physically cowed. Sure, there are many, possibly a silent majority, who may be waiting for the poll to have their say in opposition to the military junta that seized power in May 2014, led by then-army chief Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the incumbent prime minister. But few have been able and willing to stand up and stare down the ruling generals who routinely resort to intimidation and coercion, armed with guns and the law, which they sometimes interpret as they see fit. Just about everyone in Thailand is physically afraid of the junta in one way or another. Otherwise, there would have been more anti-junta demonstrations in public view.

• OPINION

  Prospects after Cambodia's fabricated poll

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 27/07/2018

  » While Thailand has a seemingly indefinite military government with no clear poll date, Cambodia is holding an election on July 29 with a foregone conclusion. After methodically taken apart oppositional forces, the incumbent government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, under the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), is set to win a landslide. At issue now will be what happens after the election. At least three dynamics are in play. How they intersect and enmesh will determine Cambodia's political future.

• OPINION

  Lasting lessons from Malaysia for SE Asia

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/05/2018

  » Some have likened it to an "earthquake," while others have called it a "tsunami." However it is billed, Malaysia's election outcome still reverberates far and wide. Its political aftershocks yield lessons and considerations for politics in Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand, which holds the dubious distinction as the only parliamentary system in this region that does not know when it will next stage a poll.

• OPINION

  Is Thailand's civil society waking up again?

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 19/01/2018

  » It is hard to believe how the military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha that appeared so strong not so long ago now looks shaky enough to be untenable.

• OPINION

  Elections, corruption and Thai democracy

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/02/2018

  » People at home and abroad are calling for elections in Thailand on the premise of returning democracy to a country that has been under nearly four years of military government. But elections cannot bring genuine democracy if blatant corruption rears its head in open daylight with utter impunity. No doubt elections will be needed to get rid of the current set of military rulers but democracy in Thailand requires the strengthening of its democratic institutions that are so shoddy and woeful.

• OPINION

  Royal transition explains military's grip

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/10/2017

  » Hindsight will look back at Thailand's prolonged political interregnum after the military coup on 22 May 2014 with perplexity and astonishment. It will be remembered as a time of junta rule in a country that had overthrown military dictatorships repeatedly in 1973 and 1992. This time, the self-styled strongman from the barracks was Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, who would end up in office for longer than most elected leaders before him. There will be many questions and criticisms of Gen Prayut's tenure and rule but undergirding them will be his unrivalled role a year ago today, on 13 Oct 2016, with the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The consequent royal transition is likely to be viewed in posterity as the principal reason why the Thai people have had to put up with Gen Prayut.

• OPINION

  A way out after two trials in two decades

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/08/2017

  » Once again, Thailand is gripped by another high-profile court trial in yet another round of political brinkmanship. The much anticipated verdict today on Yingluck Shinawatra's handling of the rice-pledging scheme while in office is reminiscent of her eldest brother Thaksin Shinawatra's assets concealment case 16 years ago. In fact, Thailand's political landscape so far in the 21st century can now be book-ended by these two politicised cases that are likely to end up with different outcomes while going in the same direction. In turn, the Yingluck verdict can serve as another reminder of what Thailand needs to do to move on from its two-decade political malaise underpinned by half a dozen elections, violent street protests, and two military coups.

• OPINION

  Migrant workers policy yet another flop

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/07/2017

  » Assessed from just about any angle, it is difficult not to see Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's recent policy announcements on migrant workers as a series of self-inflicted flops. While damage control is the government's immediate concern, Thailand's longer-term priorities require an overhaul of its manpower strategies and a broader change in the Thai mindset on migrant workers from neighbouring countries.

First Previous 1 2 3 Next Last